Beer/Drinks

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The San Luis Obispo region of California is known for the beauty of its coastline and a relaxed pace of living, but despite its long history of winemaking, it has never broken through with the public as a coveted source for great wines. This may soon change.

It’s the water.

The first time I had grenadine – and the first time you probably had grenadine – was in a kiddie cocktail. A Shirley Temple. (Or a Roy Rogers, if the restaurant believed in rigid gender binaries.) It felt thrilling, because it was your first brush with the adult bar, a tiny act of culinary transgression. Grenadine! That was the stuff grown-ups used. Pour a little into a glass of soda, drop in a cherry, add a paper umbrella or a plastic sword, and suddenly you were the most sophisticated 6-year-old in the dining room.

Like so many Americans right now, I’m intently focused on the big football game coming up, eager to cheer on the teams with my fellow gridiron die-hards! I want to get their take on some of my most pressing questions – like, is halftime when they resurface the field and send out the Zamboni? Once the Seahawks goalie gets into the red zone, does someone throw a penalty kick? When do the Patriots yell “fore”?

Spring is still more than a month away but Starbucks is already counting the days, teasing its spring menu amid the widespread winter weather.

The question: Is red wine healthier than white wine?

We’re full tilt into the holiday season, and with Thanksgiving, the first of the annual Great Gluttonous Holidays, in the rearview mirror, heads are still spinning from putting together a holiday meal that doesn’t leave someone offended, unhappy or breaking out in hives.

After the release of “The Spokane Cookbook” in 2022, Ari Nordhagen had no intention of writing another book.

As the days get shorter, the nights longer, and the air has grown so chilled that even the gentlest of breezes feels like a slap in the face, the city sparkles with twinkling lights everywhere. You know what time it is …

A miraculous buzz awaits you in downtown Spokane ...

Though nonalcoholic wines aren’t a new invention, good ones are. The first one I tasted, more than 20 years ago at a Thanksgiving dinner, was little more than dark grape juice in a fancy bottle, and while I was happy to have something a bit more sophisticated to sip at dinner, it was more about fitting in than outright enjoyment. It also felt like a shame to pair good food with not-so-good wine – especially on the one holiday that’s specifically all about the food – but still, it was better than drinking soda.

Last fall, I learned that when you fly home from the Quebecois countryside with an overstuffed bag full of maple syrup, TSA will have questions. I would have thought this to be a normal occurrence up in the Great White North, where the excellence of maple syrup is a matter of national pride, but apparently most travelers bring only one or two bottles back home – not dozens.

Schweitzer Mountain Resort is, unsurprisingly, well-known for its winter offerings.

No-Li Brewhouse’s Squatch Series Imperials swept the podium at the 2025 World Beer Awards in Norwich, England, taking home gold, silver and bronze medals.

During summer in my hometown of New Orleans, it can be sweltering even at 7 a.m. But I don’t sweat it. I’ve whittled down the time it takes for me to get out of bed and prepare my morning cold-brew coffee to a record low. Fill a cup with ice, splash in some concentrate and water, and I’m good to go.

At Spokane’s newest wine bar, owner Jackie Casey aims to make wine approachable for everyone – as long as they’re 21 or older, of course.

Let’s consider 21 the magic number.

No-Li Brewhouse’s Wrecking Ball Imperial Stout earned a gold medal at the 2025 World Beer Cup, after it recently ranked among Forbes Magazine’s Best Stouts in the World.

It’s long baffled me how two of the most essential flavors – sour and salty – came to be associated with bad moods. Tasting food, the only criticism I level more frequently than “this dish needs more acid” is “this dish needs more salt.” Each is essential, providing its own kind of brightening and binding, lifting and highlighting the flavors around it. Yet with people, both “salty” and “sour” have evolved to describe anger or unpleasantness. It must be based on facial reactions – the pinched grimace of a person who has taken a bite of lemon echoing the pinched scowl of someone who wants to speak with the manager.